March 09, 2009

Book #20: The Time Traveler's Wife

I might be the last person on Earth to read Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. This was a thoroughly engrossing novel about one couple's love affair that spans decades, and ages.

Clare is six years-old when Henry first visits her in the field near her parents' home. He is in his 40's. Henry visits her throughout her life as she ages. Sometimes Henry is in his 40's. Sometimes he's older, and sometimes younger.

Henry DeTamble is a libarian and unwilling time traveler. He frequently has very little warning and absolutely no control when he disappears from his life and ends up somewhere else in time, naked. Often he visits his wife Clare, as she's growing up. Sometimes he visits his family, even reliving his mother's gruesome death. And sometimes he visits himself, at different times in his life.

I found it a little hard to follow where the characters are supposed to be at in their lives, when Henry jumps around in time. But it's possible that's just because I'm very bad at math. The most haunting part of this book for me, was how lonely it is to be the wife who's left behind, never knowing when or if your husband will join you again in your present.

2 comments:

Pam said...

This is one of my favorite books. I'm interested to see how they do the movie version.

I was hoping the asuthor would write more novels but there hasn't been any others.

Queen Kandis said...

Pam, she's probably still exhausted from writing this one. I can't imagine how this would work as a movie at all. But I'm lacking in imagination. I'm still wondering how they managed to make The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe into a movie. Twice.